Soju anyone?

Funny how jet lag should be making me tired, yet is doing the complete reverse. Since I have been here I have slept an average of 5 hours a night, have not napped, and have been completely alert. Monday morning I woke up at a casual 3 am, caught my roommate shoving the Korean version of Bugles(the snack) in her mouth while lying in bed. I pretended i couldn't here the intense crunching noises although I was only 3 feet away from her(the room has two twin beds but the hotel pushes them together... she likes that feature.... me, not so much). Eventually I fell back asleep only to wake back up at 6 and see her watching Adam's Family Values on mute with all the lights on in the room. Needless to say she doesn't sleep that much either.

The first day of orientation opened it self to a whole new crowd of colorful individuals. I'll break it down. 

-Matt  is from Atlanta(Yea Jeremy!), has an intense southern accent(how he got hired to teach english when I have trouble understanding him is beyond me), looks shockingly similar to Nick Lache and has alluded to a past life of male escorting, and is fluent in spanish(Lauren....Grasseass, Daynayder)

-Tom is 32, oldest one of the bunch, owns his own animation business (when he gets home from this trip is hopefully working at Pixar...pretty cool stuff), begins every story with, when I was tripping on acid this one time....

-Taber is from Long beach, is half Native American, drank 3 pint size bottles of Soju(intense Korean Rice Wine...40 ish proof) to pre game before we went out Monday, proceeded to vom all over the floor of the subway station, passed out on the floor of the bar we went to(before midnight) and woke up the next day with his hair in the exact same position from the half bottle of gel he put in it. 

-April is from Florida, she wears a sweatshirt when it dips below 80, was a semi-professional salsa dancer in the states and has one ambition in life, to dance (and sing) wherever she is(this could be the subway, the bathroom, the street, really wherever, with no alcohol needed). 

-Blake(my favorite) is Korean but he and his twin sister were adopted when they were babies, grew up in Massachusetts and lives on Cape Cod now, worked in Thailand as an English teacher last year(gives all the rest of us newbies good advice) and is very very cute.... I know, I know, don't even say it.

-Carl is Korean but was adopted when he was a three by a Swedish Family, is the most well traveled person I have ever met, speaks about 4 languages fluently, has been our savior the past few days by giving us tips and reading Korean signs for us, smokes a solid three packs a day, and is the most jolly person on earth next to santa.

So those are the characters I'm hanging out with. Very Very diverse, but actually really cool. It's interesting to here how everyone got here. Everyone is extremely well traveled however it seems that coming here to Korea was just as random for them as it was for me. But what I really like is that everyone is really open to try things(Matt, April and Blake really want to try dog.... I'm not quite that open) and travel. We are already setting up some trips to Japan and around Korea. 

Ok and this is the last little bit. Korean food= UNGODLY SPICY and strange as hell. I have sampling but nothing has really hit home for me yet. I'm anxious to move out of the hotel and into my own place so I can cook my own junk and not be forced to eat out(it's pretty expensive) for every meal. 

That's all for now though because I have a little quiz to study for. 

xoxo 

I'm Here!!!

I'm Alive!!! Left at 1 pm Saturday, Chicago time, arrived 4:30 pm Sunday in Seoul. Longest time I have ever sat in once place in my life! 

I'll just give everyone a brief little snippet of a flight on Korean Air.... first off I didn't have my own little TV in front of me (a little cranky about that) but it paid off because the in flight entertainment for the whole plane was hilarious. First they started off with ancient news reels from the Korean war.... random... second they played a random Jack Black flick(I think "be kind rewind or something along those lines- I was passed out for that), but woke up just in time to catch the third movie which was all a Korean movie which essentially was Sailor Moon on crack with real people, and last but definitely not least was a Celine Dion concert. Every Asian who had been asleep sensed the Celine in the air and woke up to put their headphones on. I too tuned in and almost wet myself laughing. That however did not go to well because she is like God to them.

In addition the food was amazing... they handed me what looked like an innocent roll to nibble on. First bite in, I realized they injected it with spicy beef. Well that was a nasty little surprise. 

All in all a good flight though because I befriended a thirty something Korean woman who was sitting next to me with her adorable little 3 year old boy. She wanted to practice her english and when I told her I didn't know a lick of Korean she made it her personal goal to teach me how to hail a cab, say hello, say thank you, and teach me about their money. She was the nicest woman. It gave me a really good feeling about the country. 

Honestly traveling by myself makes me realize just how kind people can be. Here I am with two huge rolley bags, an enormous back-packer style back pack and a regular school back pack, and people were helping me left and right. At one point I was standing in the wrong line about 30 people deep to get my passport stamped and a Korean man got out of his line and led me to the line I was supposed to be. So nice. I really was lucky. 

So now just a bit about my first night. I got to the hotel and was told I had a roommate for the week. Her name is Kat, and she's a doll, but also a very ghetto fabulous lesbian from New Haven, CT....(insert comment here). So my first night was spent with the token black guy in korea(who is VERY gay) who I met in the lobby and decided to befriend, my rommmate, and the only other black girl in our program (she is from Tennessee, has never drank, or kissed a boy)......Dear Jesus..... Needless to say I started off the night with a beer. However after one beer I thought I was going to fall asleep in my plate and retreated back to the room with everyone to watch the Olympics closing ceremony dubbed in Korean. Very amusing. 

Today I start orientation and hopefully meet a bunch of people! 

Love and miss everyone!